It's Almost Supernatural

Guest Blog: Obama blames America for terror against Israel?

A friend of mine, Jack Harvey, sent in the following guest blog about Obama's shaky Israel policies.

For those of us who are watching the American elections closely, an interesting hint of the difference between the two candidates' views on Israel emerged recently. Ben Smith, blogging at Politico, points to two recent letters from American legislators to President Bush supporting Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas rockets.

One letter was signed by Senator John McCain and 76 other Senators—almost the entire Senate, practically speaking. It makes the case for Israel in strong terms. The other letter was signed by Senator Barack Obama—and only Senator Barack Obama.

What could be the reason for Obama’s “dissent”? Smith writes: “The letters don’t differ on major points....But...Obama’s is extremely focused on the clarity of his message, and isn’t about to sign onto others’ roughly similar words or views.”

Put less charitably, Obama wanted to draw attention to himself, in order to win back wavering support among pro-Israel voters (including Jews).

However, Mark Hemingway of the National Review also notes that there is something troubling about Obama’s description of the conflict.

In the second paragraph of his letter, Obama writes:

“But I am deeply concerned that Israel's security has been put at risk both because of renewed threats from implacable enemies like Iran, Hizbollah and Hamas, and because of policy choices by the United States. [Emphasis added]”

Hemingway comments:

“Does Obama really want to go around blaming Israel's security problems on the U.S., let alone do it in the same sentence he notes the threats presented by Iran, Hizbollah and Hamas? Well, you'd certainly be hard pressed to find many people in congress willing to sign on to that notion.”

Obama’s letter sums up the problem he has with pro-Israel voters. He can’t get the message right, even when he tries to pander. And that’s either because he’s inexperienced on the issue, or because he quietly shares at least some of the views of the anti-Israel left—or both.

In another well-known example, Obama told AIPAC, for example, that Jerusalem “must remain undivided”, then back-tracked the very next day when both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority leadership complained.

Obama’s Israel ambiguity will persist beyond Election Day. It’s hard to know how he would actually perform if he won. But one thing is fairly clear: Obama believes Bush “neglected” the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and he wants to take a more active and involved approach as president. Whether Obama is a neophyte or a radical, his eagerness to take control, given his frequent missteps, ought to be a little worrying to friends of Israel.

Israelis Overwhelmingly Support Co-Existence

Despite the common vitriolic exchanges between Israeli Arab officials and the Jewish right wing over their role in Israeli society, a recent poll conducted by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government has found that that 77 percent of Israel’s Arab minority would rather live in the Jewish state than in any other country in the world. This startlingly high figure would seem to indicate that Arab Israelis are far more patriotic than is generally portrayed in the media.

The Jewish public’s commitment to co-existence is also much higher than uninformed observers of the Israeli-Arab conflict would expect. According to the poll, 73 percent of Jewish citizens want Israel to "be a society in which Arab and Jews have mutual respect and equal opportunities." And to help bring Arab and Jewish citizens together, 68 percent of Jew support teaching conversational Arabic in Jewish schools. How common is it I wonder for states that are routinely demonized as fascist and apartheid-like to displace this level of tolerance?

But more than dispel the libel of gross Israeli racism, these findings serve to provide a starting point from which Israeli-Arab relations can be strengthened. It is all too often the extremists that grab the headlines either describing the Arabs as fifth columns or denying the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. But as these polls show, the vast majority of both Jewish and Arabs in Israel hold much more moderate and reconcilable positions. The trick is to find a mechanism so that this large component of Israeli society can talk to each other.

Language is of course the first barrier. While both Hebrew and Arabic are official languages, few Israelis could be considered bilingual. This needs to change. Making both compulsory subjects through to a pre-university level would be a good start.

There are many other ideas that we could all generate that promote cross cultural dialogue. And we as civil society should. For building on the findings of this survey is too important to leave in the hands of Israel’s seemingly inane elected representatives.

Secret airlift of Zim Jews denied

Both the Jewish Agency and the African Jewish Congress are denying reports that they are planning a secret airlift of Zimbabwe’s remaining 600 or so Jews to Israel. This claim made front page news in last week’s Jewish Chronicle.

In the article, Ofer Dahan, the Jewish Agency’s senior representative in Southern Africa was quoted as saying that Zimbabwean Jews were scheduled to “leave Zimbabwe soon”. But now he has told Jewish News that that there is “no such plan.”

Furthermore Rabbi Silberhaft (the spiritual head of the African Jewish Congress), who is in London to drum up support for the Zimbabwe Jewish Community said that, contrary to last week's JC report, he is not fundraising for an emergency airlift. He stressed: "The African Jewish Congress has no knowledge of, and is not aware of, any evacuation plans quoted by the Jewish Agency."

With violence escalating in Zimbabwe ahead of the presidential run off, there are concerns about the safety of the community there. The community seems justifiably nervous of attracting political attention to itself. Last month the Zimbabwe Jewish leadership told an AJC delegation to resist speaking out against human rights abuses in Zimbabwe for this reason. Claims of secret evacuation plans further increases their risk. Rabbi Silberhaft is reported to have described them as “dangerous”.

It’s hard for outside observers (particularly those in the West) to understand why and how Zimbabwe’s Jews continue to want to live in that country. The nightly news reports of torture, murder and intimidation are somewhat misleading. They have mostly been taking place in rural areas where almost no Jews live. Furthermore Whites (other than farmers) have not really been targeted by the Mugabe regime. In a similar (but more extreme) way to South African Jews, the community in Zimbabwe lives very much in their own relatively protected cocoon. When I visited Zimbabwe last year for a family funeral, I was struck by how normally their lives had carried on in such an abnormal situation.

Rather than political violence, their major concerns are economic. Hyper-inflation has effectively destroyed their savings. A family friend put this in context when she explained to me that she bought her house 10 years ago for what she now pays for a single egg. But more than the cost, Mugabe’s inane policy of price fixing has created chronic shortages. Thus many Zimbabweans struggle to get hold of basics like toilet paper, medicine and some foodstuffs.

The best we can do to help them is send food packages through the Hebrew Order of David.

Zim Jews to be airlifted to Israel?

A font page article in this week’s Jewish Chronical (the British equivalent of the Jewish Report) is claiming that secret plans are afoot to airlift the remaining 600 odd Jews left in Zimbabwe to Israel (in the same vain as operation Solomon and Moses).

Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, the spiritual leader of the African Jewish Congress, is said to have flown to London this weekend to raise funds for the operation, the cost of which could run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ofer Dahan, the Jewish Agency’s senior representative in Southern Africa is quoted as saying that Zimbabwean Jews were scheduled to “leave Zimbabwe soon” but he refused to elaborate.

The actual details of the plan are extremely sketchy. There is no Israeli embassy in Harare and there are no direct flights to Tel Aviv, making a wholesale airlift difficult. While this secret plan may well exist, the idea as reported seems slightly bizarre.

Last month a high powered delegation from South Africa including Chief Rabbi Goldstein and President of the African Jewish Congress Mervyn Smith visited Zimbabwe. But according to an article in the South African Jewish Report this visit was designed to show solidarity with the local Jewish community and assess their humanitarian needs, not their wholesale evacuation. At a public meeting in Harare attended by almost two-thirds of the Jewish community, the South African delegation was said to have stressed the importance of the community pulling together in the current times of distress in order to help one another and ensure the continuance of Jewish life.

I can also confirm that Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft has flown to London on a fund raising trip. But as far as I am aware the money is for further humanitarian assistance. The dire economic situation is Zimbabwe has made access to basic necessities extremely difficult even for the relatively well off Jewish community. Thus the South African Hebrew Order of David and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee have been providing monthly food parcels of much needed stuff like jam, coffee, salt, toilet paper and cereals. With the prospect of an impending civil war, access to food will be even more difficult.

But what makes this airlift story so improbable is the stubbornness and inability of the remaining Zimbabwean Jews not to leave. Most are elderly (some in their late 80s) and sickly. Even if they could make the trip, they would be unable to afford the type of care that they have become accustomed to. Moreover Israel seems like a rather unlikely final destination. While the Zimbabwe community is extremely pro the Jewish state, the culture shock would be far too great. South Africa, where many of them have family would seem like a far better idea.

And finally one would need to consider the ramifications for South African Jewry of such an operation. Around the Friday night dinner table many South African Jews wonder out loud if our country is not destined to go the same way as our northern neighbour. Seeing the once strong and influential Jewish community of Zimbabwe flown with their walkers and wheelchairs like refugees to Israel will certainly create panic here. The new wave emigration that is currently underway will only intensify.

Furthermore, the South African government is unlikely to view this type of evacuation positively. Those same images of elderly Whites being airlifted to safety will make it clear to the entire world the extent of the crisis in Zimbabwe, which this government habitually denies. It will also create more doubt in the minds of many Black South Africans of the commitment and loyalty of Jews to Africa in general.

Every effort must be made to protect the safety of Zimbabwe’s Jews. Clearly if a war breaks out dramatic steps such as airlifts may need to be taken. But hopefully all other options will be considered first.

SA Jewish Contribution to Xenophobia Relief Effort

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies has sent out an email detailing the tremendous contribution the South African Jewish community has made to the relief effort. All too often the press (particularly international) has focused on the horrific violence and the complete failure of the South African Government to respond to the crisis but failed to showcase the amazing work of civil society. The situation in the refugee camps is by no means acceptable but it would be far worse if organizations like the SAJBD and Union of Jewish Women had not stepped in.

We should be very proud of what we have done. But now is not yet the time for patting ourselves on the back: the crisis is still far from over. Even though formal refugee camps have been set up now by the government, civil society will most likely have to bear most of the burden of running them. Money rather than food and clothing is now what is being asked for. If you wish to contribute donations can be made to Standard Bank Killarney Account 200305190 and marked `Relief'. Please fax deposit details to 011 645-2559.

Click continue reading Wendy Kahn's summary of the community's efforts.

Jerusalem Day

Yesterday was Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day).

In 1969 Stanley Goldfoot wrote an open-letter to the world from Jerusalem. Aish Hatorah has turned it into a powerful R&B style video.

I have watched this city bombarded twice by nations calling themselves civilised. In 1948 while you looked on apathetically I watched as women and children were blown to smithereens after we agreed to your request to internationalise the city. And the savage sacking of the old city, the wilful slaughter, the wanton destruction of every synagogue and religious school, the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, the sale by a ghoulish government of tombstones for building materials, army camps – even latrines. And you never said a word. You never breathed the slightest protest when the Jordanians cut off the Holiest of our places, the Western wall. Not a murmur came from you when the Legionnaires opened fire upon our citizens from behind the walls. And 20 years later when the Arabs unleashed a savage unprovoked bombardment of the Holy city again did any of you do anything? The only time you came to life was when the city was at last re-united. Then you wrung your hands and spoke loftily of “justice” and need for the “Christian” quality of turning the other cheek. For the first time since the year 70, there is now complete religious freedom for all in Jerusalem. For the first time since the Romans put a torch to the Temple, everyone has equal rights. We loathe the sword - but it was you who forced us to take it up. We crave peace, but we are not going back to the peace of 1948 as you would like us to. We are home.

South Africa's Refugee Crisis Up-Close

This past weekend I went to help out to the Germiston Town Hall. Over 1,000 refugees are being held there in shocking conditions. I took with a friend of mine who made aliyah (immigration to Israel) a few years ago and is here visiting. These are her thoughts about what she saw:

As I am sure you all know, in the past three weeks South Africa has been faced with a surge of xenophobic violence against both legal and illegal immigrants, who have come here from various parts of Africa in search of a better life. 56 people have been killed, and tens of thousands have been forced to flee to neighbouring states.

I happen to be in South Africa visiting my parents, and so I decided (along with a group of some wonderful friends) to go volunteer at one of the many refugee centres that have sprung up throughout the country.

My friends and I went to a relief centre in Germiston- a drive maybe twenty to thirty minutes from my home. The centre is teeming with people from all over the continent. Men, women and children. The estimate is that the centre houses over 1000 people. The centre, one of many, has been set up not by the government, but by NGO’s and the public sector, who are simply unable to manage this kind of country-wide crisis.

While the effort is fantastic, so much more needs to be done…In fact, experts need to get involved. To understand the seriousness, there are NO DOCTORS in the centre, yet hundreds of crying sick children, NO WASHING FACILITIES, NO BEDS, NO HEAT (it is Winter here now, and very very cold), FEW VOLUNTEERS, NO HYGIENE AT ALL etc…..I really could go on. Not only does the place pose a huge health risk, but also a security risk- while the refugees are being guarded from forces outside, there is no-one protecting them from one another. I am certain that the incidences of rape will increase with time, the spread of communicable diseases, as well as the pilfering that has already begun…These people are so desperate…..

My friends and I cooked lunch- which will likely only be served at supper, as the industrial size pots were taking very, very long to heat….we played with some of the children (children who have no toys, no warm clothing, no education, no home….but some very concerned parents), we sorted clothes to be handed out, and we spoke to many of the refugees. Most, who came here seeking better lives, simply want to return home; while others are hoping that the government will get the situation under control and they will be able to integrate back into society….

In truth, the government has failed these people, the weakest and most vulnerable among us; and continues to do so on a daily basis. When this crisis broke out, Thabo Mbeki (our “President”) flew abroad… Today, Home Affairs (the equivalent of the Ministry of Interior) was coming to register the people for the first time in three weeks!!!! A government worker I spoke to told me that the government is not calling this xenophobic attacks; but criminality against foreigners. They have convinced themselves that this is simply a criminal element in society which, if weeded out, will resolve the problem.

Sadly, in my mind, the roots of this problem are far deeper- related to the unkept promises of the government to its people. The fact that 14 years after the end of Apartheid people still have no homes, no jobs, poor education, poor services etc…This is simply anger directed towards those who cannot defend themselves….

The people are being shipped out tomorrow- to who knows where and to what conditions…I cannot imagine they will be better. Many are trying to go home, and thousands have fled to other states- Mozambique (a country on our Northern border) has declared a state of emergency…though SA has not.

I was so saddened today by what has become of this my country of birth….I kept on trying to work out how we got here….I have no answers. All I can do is quote one of the women whose three beautiful, shy girls I was playing with- “we pray to God; please do too.”

Their new home...

The mounds of generously donated relief food.

Living amongst their only possessions.

What does their future hold?

The few sweets that we hand out brings a much needed smile

Security at work

Guest Blog: Mbeki Not Listening

Ivor Davis is a retired journalist hailing from Zimbabwe. His letters can now be regularly found in our media. He is a staunch Zionist and has battled the local press in a bid to obtain fair media coverage of the Middle East almost since he arrived in South Africa. As a Zimbabwean he feels very strongly about the current crisis - both at home and in South Africa. The following is a piece he recently sent to us on what he thinks has led to the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

As the xenophobic anti-foreigner hunting season gathered pace in Alexandra and elsewhere, it was inevitable that comparisons with the Jewish experience, as victims over the centuries, would emerge.

A weekly newspaper from Britain, the Zimbabwean – required reading for we Zimbabweans in what we call The Diaspora – quoted a victim in Alex: “We are being hunted like the Jews under Hitler” and the headline read: “We are like Jews during the Nazi era.”

I’m sure Jewish readers caught the word “pogrom” several times in news reports and letters to editors about the atrocities on our doorsteps.

Mbeki and the government were not listening – or didn’t wish to listen – as several warnings were given over the past few years that Mugabe’s Nazi style of leadership with his Gestapo and Hitler Youth, which he calls the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and Green Bombers, would ultimately be bad news for South Africa.

The massacre of 20,000 Ndebele people by Mugabe’s 5th Brigade (trained by the North Koreans) in 1982 and the destruction of thousands of poor homes of city dwellers in 2005 – not to mention the killings and beatings of countless opposition supporters and protestors – should have provided the necessary wake-up calls. Homes and small businesses were destroyed in Harare and Bulawayo to punish MDC voters in opposition strongholds.

As commentators are saying, the chickens are coming home to roost with Mugabe giving the whole region a bad name. It’s feared that our tourism, investment potential and, God forbid, the 2010 World Cup, may all be affected. No diplomacy might have been an improvement on Mbeki’s frequent visits to Harare, the handholding and hugging with Mugabe, and what appears to have been the tyrant getting the wink and the nod to carry on regardless.

A tough and resolute approach by Mbeki to stop Mugabe in his tracks, instead of seeming to support him, might have prevented those three million Zimbos descending on South Africa and the consequences. Perhaps they would have stayed at home.

Regarding the attacks on the township immigrants, The Times made the point in an editorial: “Our intelligence is weak. Our decision making is slow and coordination between the services appears to be poor. The head of the National Intelligence Agency, Billy Masethla, was fired for pointing out these shortcomings.”

I’m reminded of my battle last year with Minister for Intelligence, Ronnie Kasrils, when I suggested in the media that he should spend more time and effort on problems nearer home, like Darfur and Zimbabwe, rather than Palestine and other far-away places. Obviously Kasrils wasn’t listening to either Billy or myself.